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Vilnius Airport suspends all traffic due to possible balloons in the airspace

Lithuania suspended air traffic on Vilnius Airport because balloons may have flown in its airspace. Flights were diverted to other countries, said the airport operator late Saturday. In recent weeks, drone sightings have caused havoc in European aviation. This has happened at airports such as Copenhagen and Munich.

"Attention: the airspace above Vilnius Airport has been closed," the airport stated in a website statement. The closure is expected to last up until 2:30 am local time (2330 GMT).

Flights diverted to Poland and Latvia

The airport website and airline announcements are the best places to check for updates, according to the statement.

According to our information the decision was taken due to an alleged series of balloons headed toward Vilnius Airport. Flights have been impacted as a result," the airport announced on social media.

The operator reported that most incoming flights had been redirected towards neighbouring Latvia and Poland while departures had been cancelled. One flight from Copenhagen was diverted to Denmark. In August, NATO member Lithuania said that it had declared an 90-km-long (56-mile-long) no-fly-zone parallel to its border with Belarus in response to drones coming from there. This would allow the armed forces of Lithuania to respond to violations.

Lithuania, which is a staunch supporter of Ukraine shares a border of 679 km (422 miles) with Belarus, an ally of Russia. Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, is located about 30 km away from the border. Reporting by Nerijus Adomiaitis in Oslo and Terje Solsvik Editing by Matthew Lewis, Rod Nickel

(source: Reuters)